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While action as a genre tends to be pretty popular, there’s a certain contemplative charm that mystery anime have that just pulls the audience in and leaves them craving more; the thought-provoking themes and secrets compelling the viewer to inherently seek the truths, motives, and resolutions until the very end. And with these series’ piling problems, questions, puzzles, riddles, secrets, and, well, mysteries, the truth is definitely not always as it may seem…
1) The Apothecary Diaries
When Maomao, an apothecary’s daughter from the red-light district, gets kidnapped and sold to be a servant of the imperial palace, she’s thrust into a world of mysterious disturbances within bureaucratic disputes. Trying to hide her literacy and medicinal knowledge, when the emperor’s children begin falling gravely ill, she can’t help herself but to quietly solve the “curse” anonymously. When the beautiful eunuch Jinshi manages to single her out, she’s promoted to concubine Gyokuyou’s lady-in-waiting and poison taster. But as Maomao’s skills prove her indispensable, she begins facing risks that go beyond the hazards of tasting for poisons.
As a historical anime, The Apothecary Diaries piles on mysteries within mysteries, both episodic and throughout the overarching plot, that’s sure to keep you hooked and guessing. Maomao’s methodical and intuitive investigations often rely on a piece of wisdom from her adoptive father: staying silent on half-baked conjectures until substantial evidence supports a hypothesis.
The Apothecary Diaries can be streamed on Netflix, Hulu, or Crunchyroll where available.
2) Monster
When renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Kenzou Tenma is faced with the moral dilemma of either saving a child’s life or following orders to perform surgery on the town’s mayor, he manages to save the life of the young boy, Johan Liebert. Unfortunately, Tenma’s good intentions come with their own consequences. Years later, beyond losing his job and fiancée, deaths mysteriously begin cropping up, with suspicions pointing a finger at Tenma himself, forcing him to face the consequences of his choices and the monster he allowed to live.
If you’re looking for a mystery that’ll keep your ears perked and eyes attentive for the duration of an extended binge, Monster definitely does the job. With 74 episodes, Tenma’s pursuit leads him to travel on a lengthy, years-long journey full of psychological suspense and thought-provoking questions of morality.
Monster can be streamed on Netflix.
3) Link Click
Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang run the Time Photo Studio under their landlady and close friend Qiao Ling. Under the guise of a photo studio, their trade instead involves the client providing the photo. With it, Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang are able to travel back in time. While Lu Guang provides guidance with his ability to see 12 hours into the photo’s future, Cheng Xiaoshi leaps back to the moment the photo was taken, assuming the identity of the photographer along with all of their memories and emotions. The two must then work together in order to solve the client’s request and relieve them of their past regret. But witnessing increasingly tragic events progressively takes a toll on Cheng Xiaoshi and eventually garners unwanted attention.
Link Click gives the mystery genre two things that can often be overlooked: a clever new tool for the time travel trope and actual deep emotional connections between the people involved and the consequences of such a power. Furthermore, the use of photographs here isn’t just a visual symbol, but an allegory that pervades the entirety of the narrative, giving truly vibrant snapshots of the human experience.
Link Click can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
4) Steins;Gate
Alongside his supportive childhood friend Mayuri Shiina and otaku hacker roommate Itaru Hashida, mad scientist Rintarou Okabe of the Future Gadget Laboratory endeavors to create scientific and technological innovations. Despite his overwhelming enthusiasm, Okabe and his team have only managed to create a microwave that seemingly only has the odd ability to transform bananas into green goo. At first, when he discovers that the microwave can be used for time travel itself, it seems like a groundbreaking scientific innovation. Unfortunately, as things spiral out of control and the discovery garners unwanted attention, Okabe soon learns that time travel isn’t just a toy, but leads to dire, traumatizing consequences for both his loved ones and his own sanity. Realizing all too late the damage that’s been done, Okabe is determined to move time itself to set things right.
Speaking of time travel anime involving deep emotional connections and the consequences of such a power, Steins;Gate is also a great choice if you’re looking to get deeply invested in a mystery anime. At first, the prospect of time travel seems like an exciting breakthrough, but it soon becomes clear through cycles of psychological torment that not everything is as it may seem…
Steins;Gate can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
5) Odd Taxi
As a taxi driver, Hiroshi Odokawa meets many strange customers in his line of work like the unemployed Taichi Kabasawa who hopes to become internet famous, Miho Shirakawa, a nurse with her own secrets, the “Homo Sapiens”, a struggling comedic duo, and the infamous delinquent Dobu. But making a living as a taxi driver isn’t an easy job, especially when a girl goes missing and authorities track the leads back to him, the yakuza and corrupt cops hot on his heels.
Odd Taxi may at first look like a cutesy, quirky anime about anthropomorphic animals just getting caught up in the antics of others, but it’s so much more. The series piles on mystery upon mystery that the audience may not have even realized to begin with was a mystery. But that’s part of the fun. The absolute layers that Odd Taxi offers brings a unique, clever novelty to the genre.
Odd Taxi can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
